UNH Whittemore School Students Win Microarts Advertising Competition

Contact: Lori Wright
603-862-0574
UNH Media Relations

June 3, 2004



DURHAM, N.H. – Great advertising campaigns must have great stopping power – the ability to convince readers to pause and read an ad – and a team of students from the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics developed an ad campaign that did just that, winning them the MicroArts Advertising Competition.

The winning team consisted of Amanda Gingras, a senior from Milton, VT; Mike Grabowski, a senior from Pleasantville, N.Y.; Drew Schulthess, a sophomore from Exeter; and Nancy Wolfson, a junior from Granite Springs, N.Y.

The team was selected among four teams of students who are members of the new Whittemore School Advertising Club. They were charged with developing the advertising campaign for MicroArts, a Greenland-based marketing and advertising firm that sponsored the competition. Their challenge was to help the firm break into the Greater Boston market with a comprehensive advertising campaign.

“The winning team was chosen because its ad was the one that, without a question, would work. It would accomplish the goals, and get the response and return on the advertising that we would require. It also captured the essence of our business perfectly,” said Peter Getman, CEO and co-founder of MicroArts. “It was the most relevant. It was the most creative. It had great stopping power in terms of readership. It was based on sound research and good creative work.”

According to Getman, MicroArts has had great success hiring UNH students. This summer, the firm will employ five students as interns and plans to offer five internships in the fall. “Our business model is very much based on hiring the best and brightest, young, creative, marketing strategy people coming out of UNH.” Getman said.

According to UNH marketing instructor Peter Masucci, competitions play a critical role in the overall educational experience.

“The students have a chance to experience a real-world marketing situation and work directly with professionals in the field. They learn to deal with the pressures of deadlines, work as a team, and apply the concepts from a variety of courses. And the competition provides an excellent entry on their resumes,” Masucci said.

The winning team was awarded a cash prize of $1,000, and the chance to see its creative work in a real print advertisement. The competition was designed to help prepare the students for UNH’s entry next year into the National Student Advertising Competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation.